Archive | August, 2015

Cagayan de Oro City – The Department of Social Welfare and Development extends its partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry in developing micro-entrepreneurs and locally made products from among its program participants in the Sustainable Livelihood Program.

In 2014, the DSWD through the support of the Local Government Unit of Poona Piagapo, Lanao del Norte facilitated the foremost participation of the Poona Piagapo Parent Leaders Association tagged as the “Poona’s Finest” in the DTI’s Regional Kahimunan Trade Fair.

The Kahimunan Trade Fair started in 2007 as a program strategy of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Region 10, whereby selected Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) from all over the region are gathered in one market place to sell their products. This event supports the promotion of native products from foods to handicrafts, allowing the micro-entrepreneurs expand their business ventures and network of support providers.

This year, the Poona’s Finest is again selected as one of the exhibitors to this event. Their booth showcases the very famous and colorful hand-woven fabrics called “Bunil”, which is an old-age traditional handicrafts of Maranaos using the finest threads in creating quality bed sheets, table runners, place mats and the like.

The Poona’s Finest also displays their very own Virgin Coconut Oil and Turmeric Coffee which was primarily created under the Sustainable Livelihood Program in 2013 whereby 30 selected Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries are organized and trained to establish, develop and manage the said products.

Ms. Tata Samporna, member of the Poona Piagapo Parent Leaders Association says, “as an exhibitor to this event, we are earning about P5,000 pesos daily apart from the bulk of product orders we are getting from the customers”. “Before, it was only a dream for us to sell our products, thankfully the DSWD and DTI provided us this opportunity not only to feature what we have learned but also to enjoy the city life, far from our simple living in the hinterland”, she added.

The Regional Kahimunan Trade Fair 2015 display starts on August 22 and will end on August 30 cited at the heart of the SM Super Mall, Masterson Avenue, Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City.

MAKING RESILIENT AGAINST DISASTER. Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries of Camiguin Province undergo series of lecture on disaster preparedness such as this in Sagay town in coordination with Engr. Alex Daraga, Municipal Planning and Development Officer of Sagay. Photo by Alex Cervantes, Roving Municipal Link of Camiguin, DSWD Northern Mindanao.

For the third quarter of 2015, five (5) children from the Reception and Study Center for Children were finally entrusted to their respective adoptive parents through Inter-country Adoption and Domestic Adoption.

Adoption is defined as a socio-legal process of providing a permanent family to a child whose parents have voluntarily or involuntarily relinquished parental authority over the child.

The entrustment ceremony marked the most memorable moment for the children to finally meet and be united with their dear parents. Atty. Araceli F. Solamillo, Regional Director of DSWD Field Office 10 in her welcome message said, “Your long wait is over now, finally you can embrace with love the child that you have prayed for. You can dispose the parental obligations that you wished to do for a long time. We are very happy that finally our child will have a family that can provide her one-on-one care, a family she can call her own to share happiness, tears and experiences in life that would make her a better person in the future.”

Mr. Karst Kolk , one of the adoptive parents from the Netherlands thanked the RSCC staff and the people of DSWD for taking good care of their adopted daughter even before they met her, He assured the staff that , they will always be there to guide,care and love the child much more than they have valued their daughter.

The Hegedius couple, overwhelmed the moment they got in touch with their adopted twins, consider the day as the most memorable day of their lives as their prayers have been granted with the two adorable girls that will fill their home with happiness.

Presidential Decree No. 603 “The Child and Youth Welfare Code” on the rights of the child states that “Every child has the right to a wholesome family life that will provide him with love, care and understanding, guidance and counseling, and moral and material security.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development which is tasked to provide assistance to interested couples,assist them in complying with the requirements and undergoing the tedious process of adoption.

Cagayan de Oro City — Workers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Northern Mindanao are now gathering data of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya) beneficiaries to find out the status of their well-being.

Using the Social Welfare and Development Indicators (SWDI), the workers will record and measure changes in the lives of the beneficiaries.

SWDI, a yearly monitoring of DSWD to Pantawid Pamilya grantees, aims to assess the level of well-being of the family -from survival, subsistence, and self-sufficiency.

It also serves as the reference in the case management of these said beneficiaries – to help them gain their fighting chance against poverty.

In Northern Mindanao, there are 251, 727 families who will be covered by the assessment.

The DSWD will be using the enhanced social welfare and development indicator (SWDI), a case management tool that measures the level of well-being of families in terms of their economic sufficiency and social adequacy.

In terms of economic sufficiency, families will be evaluated based on the employable skills of members, employment and salary, source of income, membership to social security and access to financial institutions. The social adequacy, on the other hand, will rate the families based on the members’ health condition, nutrition and education, access to safe drinking water and sanitary toilet facility, house construction and ownership, and awareness of social issues.

The evaluation of poor families involves a visit to the family’s residence and an interview with the household head.

The results of the SWDI will determine the needs and capacities of every Pantawid Pamilya household and will be used by the DSWD in the planning of interventions to help them improve their families’ living condition and later become self-sufficient.

Interventions may include employment facilitation, skills training, provision of livelihood opportunities and referral to other programs and services of the DSWD, other national government agencies, local government units and private organizations.

This year’s assessment results will be the baseline to be used by the DSWD in evaluating the poverty alleviation programs and services provided to these households.

Cagayan de Oro — The Department of Social Welfare Development (DSWD-X) trained 19 Area Coordinating Teams from the provinces of Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental on Environmental and Social Safeguards here last August 6-7, 2015.

The training aimed at building and enhancing the competence of the Area Coordinators and staff specifically the engineers and Community Development Officers in providing technical assistance to the community and Municipal Coordinating Teams, Local Government Units, and other stakeholders along safeguards policies, standards, and tools.

The Kalahi CIDSS- National Community Driven Development Program (KC-NCDDP) safeguards the Conflict Affected Areas, Indigenous People (IP’s), Disaster Risk Reduction & Management and Environmental Preservation.

Highlights of the activity were the discussion on KC- NCDDP goals and strategies aligned with the Philippine Plan Strategic Framework in Social Development, Skills in integrating thematic problem analysis, Monitoring and Evaluation, How to accomplish the social safeguard tools on Environment and Social Safeguards Checklist (ESSC), Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), Project Development, Initial Environmental Examination, Land Acquisition and Resettlement with Rehabilitation Plan.

To date, the program has catered the Disaster Response Operation Management (DROM- Areas) with a total of 92 community sub-projects covering 82 Barangays amounting to P101 Million. While the conflict affected areas under Kalahi CIDSS PAMANA the program has generated a total cost of P51 Million with 33,004 household beneficiaries.

The resource person was Engineer Joyce Palacol, Environmental Safeguards Specialist of National Project Management Office of the DSWD.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development recently conducted an Advocacy Forum on RA 10364 –Expanded Anti-Trafficking Act of 2012 and RA 9775- Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009.

Participated in by Focal Persons of Local Social Welfare and Development Offices, Women and Children Police Desk Officers in Misamis Oriental, and partner Agency representatives, the forum was also aimed at addressing the issue on human trafficking and in the process, encourage local mechanisms for the prevention and protection of children , women, and other vulnerable sectors along trafficking.

Being on the lead of advocating these two important and significant Laws, the Department felt the need to intensify its commitment and coordination with its partners to better implement and advocate the prevention of vulnerable sectors from becoming possible victims of trafficking and child pornography .

Furthermore, the participants were challenged and motivated to be vigilant and equipped with knowledge on the various modus operandi confronting the vulnerable sectors along trafficking.

Truly, the service and commitment of the workers of the Department of Social Welfare knows no bounds.
Upon reaching the remote barangay of Matampay in the municipality of Munai, the first thing that came to my mind was, to commend the efforts of our enumerators, area supervisors and Area Coordinator of this far flung area.

Geographically located at the foot of Camp Bilal, one of the three largest Moro International Liberation Front (MILF) camp in the Philippines, Barangay Matampay is only one of the twenty six remote barangays of Munai.

In this humble barangay, 345 households were assessed and given hope that one day soon , various Agencies will pour out their blessings to their community in the form of programs and services.

For Area Coordinator, Diomedes Dionson, conducting the assessments to the 5,453 households in the municipality of Munai per se, was indeed a challenge for the twelve enumerators and 2 Area Supervisors assigned in the area. “ Though we encountered a lot of challenges during the assessment considering that areas in the municipality of Munai are known to be conflict areas, we really appreciated the efforts of the Local Government Officials headed by Mayor Muammar John Macquiling and the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer , who made sure that the assessment operation in the twenty six barangays turn out smooth. We were even provided with Police and military escorts to ensure the safety of our enumerators . The Barangay Health Workers and Pantawid Pamilya Parent Leaders who served as our guides helped us a lot also in guiding us through the terrains in the area and going with us in travelling from one barangay to another ”.

Noramisa Codaye, one of the active Pantawid Pamilya Parent Leaders of Barangay Pantaon in Munai, was one of the volunteers who guided and took care of the enumerators in Munai. For her , it was a great opportunity to be able to be a part of the significant activity in identifying who and where the poor households are in their municipality as she, has high hopes that one of these days, her fellow residents in Munai would reap and benefit from the fruits of the assessment.

The Second Round Assessment is on its final phase. Most of the field workers assigned in rural areas have been conducting exit conferences and updating the Local officials on the status of the recently conducted household assessments.

The people from the Land of Beauty and Bounty, Lano del Norte, have always been receptive of the efforts of the Department and true to its word, the Department of Social Welfare and Development have earned the trust and commitment of the people through time, to work hand in hand with the Agency and its workers assigned in the area.

This has been so, as the people have witnessed the Department’s initiative to reach out through the various programs and projects from Pantawid Pamilya Pilipinio Program (4Ps), Sustainable Livelihood Program, Supplemental Feeding Program ,among others.

With the Listahanan Second Round Assessment, they have high hopes that there are still a lot more programs
and projects they can look forward to.

Indeed , the assessment was more than just the duty to identify who and where the poor households are . It also involved the efforts of beneficiaries and local officials alike who knew the value beyond the database.

Lanao del Norte -– The Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development implements PAMANA or Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan, a special project of the government focusing the 5 most conflict affected municipalities of Lanao del Norte namely Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Sapad, Munai, Baloi and Pantar as identified by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP).

To recall, Lanao del Norte is one of the widely-known affected provinces during the 2000 all-out war in Mindanao. The unending cycle of violence and grief since, has shown 800,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), civilians and children. However, the cost of conflict may actually outweigh the toll on human lives and damaged properties because internal displacement have a serious long-term impact especially on the children. Apart from being the most vulnerable persons during conflict, most of these children are forced to skip schooling because of conflict and work instead in order to survive.

The aftermath of conflict in this province is evidently seen and felt by the field workers of DSWD, such that inconvenience in transportation, unsound peace and order, community participation, political dynamics among other challenges which somehow affects program implementation.

However, being the lead agent of social protection services, the department is committed to realize it mission and vision of a well-empowered society.

In Barangay Capucao, SND, Lanao del Norte, the people walk through this uphill and rocky road to do their everyday activities. Apparently, there has been no other interventions in this area except for DSWD social protection programs. People are hoping for construction of Farm-to-Market road to ease their living condition.

It was amazing to see this project established and operational amidst all these challenges. Accordingly people collaborated their labor force to deliver the materials needed to complete this Corn Mill project amounting to P300,000. People are overwhelmed and thankful for this project as it does not only ease their livelihood but also increases their income.

Meanwhile in Barangay Karkum, Sapad, Lanao del Norte, this is what their road looks like when you visit their area. It will take you a 2 hour walk uphill and will pass through this rapids before you reach their residence.

In Brgy. Karkum, the people shared that they were able to complete the construction of the concrete Solar Dryer and Corn Mill by making use of their horses in transporting the needed materials. “It took a lot of time and effort to complete the project but it was all worthy, because this is the first time that we have receive aid from the government” says the association’s president.

On the other hand, the municipal mayor of Munai, Lanao del Norte, Hon. Muammar Macquiling, expressed his sincerest gratitude to DSWD in all it programs implemented in his municipality. “I am so thankful that you included Munai as one of the recipients of your programs, this endeavor gives opportunity to break the biases and criticisms towards our municipality as a war torn area”, he says.

The PAMANA is a 3-year cycle program began in 2013 with a budget of P36 Million, with each cycle year, 122 barangays of the said municipalities are receiving the said budget allocation for their respective community projects not more than P300,000 each.

The program modalities include organization of Community Core Group and Peoples Organization who will identify, establish, manage and operate a community project. Their choices of project can be identify from manufacturing or processing facilities, equipment for common service facilities and transport facilities.

To date, the program has established 940 community projects amounting to 109,800,000.00. The SLP-PAMANA will conclude by the end of this year.

The program implementation in such areas are just few of the many interventions of DSWD geared towards poverty alleviation and community empowerment.